Departed
Kyle heard the chimes of the Elders in his ears. "What now?" he wondered aloud.
"What is it?" his charge asked. Kyle looked at her, his newest charge. She was a young witch with a great deal of potential and Kyle admired her desire to learn. It helped him out a great deal that was a quick study.
"The elders," he answered, "Will you be alright her on your own for a while?"
She nodded her head, "Of course, go."
Kyle orbed out and up to the elder's domain. He spotted dozens of whitelighters standing around, waiting for the news. Kyle headed over to one of the few friends he had made in the past few weeks, "What's going on?"
"Not sure," he answered, "They're calling all whitelighters, something big is happening."
Kyle gave him a slight, not quiet understanding nod, and looked around. If they were calling all whitelighters where was Paige? He knew timing wasn't her strongest suit but he hoped she would orb in soon. He hadn't seen her since the Avatar threat and he missed her deeply. He hadn't just fallen for her. He had fallen in love with her.
There was a hushed silence as the elders emerged through a set of gold doors. Kyle suddenly felt dread in his heart. What was going on? Something in his gut told him that this was about to become personal. One of the elders, an old man that Kyle was not familiar with spoke first, "We have some urgent news. Zankou has been defeated and with him the spiritual nexus beneath the home of the Charmed Ones."
There were excited whispers among the whitelighters but the elder held up his hands, "but with this good news comes sorrow," the whitelighters grew dead quiet. He wanted until there was absolute silence and said, "The Charmed Ones, perished along with the demon and the Nexus."
There was an uproar of despair and Kyle's thoughts grew cold. He fell to knees. Paige was dead? The thought reverberated through his mind. It wasn't possible, there was no way. Paige would never, she couldn't, his thoughts jumbled up inside his head.
The elder continued to speak, "although this news brings sorrow, it comes with thanks. They were close to exposure, once again. Their death, secures our success."
Kyle, still kneeling in the mists, yelled, "Success," his voice was bitter as he voiced the question, "What success? The Charmed Ones were the glue that kept the magical world alive!"
"They're death insures our survival," another elder spoke up, her voice calm and almost sad, "if we are to be exposed it could destroy our entire world, our entire way of living."
Kyle stared at her, unable to voice anything in return. He felt the tears well in his eyes and watched, with blurred vision, as they fell into the clouds. His body hurt and his soul was wretched with pain. The elders went on to give some more instructions and Kyle only half listened. The whitelighters slowly disappeared down to the earth below one by one. Kyle was one of the last to leave.
He orbed out into the trees in front of the Halliwell Manor. There were still FBI agents everywhere and he even spotted Darryl. Kyle shrank back into the trees; he didn't want anyone, especially Darryl, to see him. Even though Darryl knew he was a whitelighter, Kyle didn't want to share his pain with anyone else. Kyle waited for several hours for them to disappear. It was nightfall before the last of them left.
Kyle emerged from his hiding spot and walked up onto the sidewalk in front of the manor. He was numb from the pain and all he wanted to do was to see her face one more time. Kyle glanced around and then walked into the house. He slowly walked into the living room and found what he was looking for, a picture of Paige.
He had a strong desire to walk through the entire house before leaving but his desire not to be caught was even stronger. He pocketed the picture of Paige and walked back outside. The stars were bright that evening. Kyle sat down on the sidewalk and pulled out the picture. His eyes once more welled with tears, "Paige," he whispered into the darkness, he ran his finger over the features of the photograph.
"I'm so sorry," he whispered, "I should have been there, done something, anything, to try and save you," he sighed and put the picture back away. At least he would always have something to remember her by. The wind rustled through the trees and somehow Kyle had a feeling that she could hear him and for a second he thought he could smell her favorite perfume. He walked back to into the trees. He turned back to the manor one last time, "I'll always love you," he said and orbed out.
Only moments after he left a young woman emerged from the tree behind him. She would be unrecognizable to anybody on the block. Tears formed behind her eyes and she struggled to speak, "I wish I could tell you."
"You know why we can't," came the voice of a stranger.
Paige didn't turn around to face her sister, "I know Phoebe, but he is in so much pain."
Phoebe wrapped her arms around her little sister, "I know. Maybe someday, when the danger is over you can. For right now, it's best that he and the rest of the magical world believe we are dead."
Paige nodded and without warning she, along with her sister, orbed away.
Neither of them saw the small black cat that had been watching them from underneath a nearby bush. The cat climbed out from under it and darted across the empty street. It found a perch on the steps of the Halliwell Manor. It would guard the manor until the next generation of Charmed Ones would be ready.
THE END